NTU students urge women to embrace body independence

By Rachel Lin / Staff reporter

A group of National Taiwan University (NTU) students yesterday urged Taiwanese women to embrace physical independence, saying that 300,000 women a year have abortions — 1.5 times the annual number of newborns — mostly because their pregnancies were unexpected.

Women’s Studies Society members attempted to increase awareness of the issue while joining a number of students from NTU’s Department of Business Administration to hold a picnic called “Girls, let’s have a picnic” on a grassy field next to the department’s Drunken Moon Lake.

The event, aimed to raise awareness among women and girls of their physical independence, was held exclusively for female students and attracted about 120 participants. A variety of brochures and pamphlets was on display at the event, giving information on birth control, sex education and feminism.

Almost every participant at the event agreed on the significance of physical autonomy, but they were at odds on the issue of premarital sex.

A sophomore surnamed Huang (黃) said that despite having a boyfriend, she was not inclined to have sex before marriage because she was afraid that getting pregnant could ruin her future.

However, a senior student at the school’s department of foreign languages and literature, surnamed Chen (陳), said she was not against premarital sex, so long as both parties consented to it and took preventative measures.